Thursday, December 30, 2010

25 Days of Christmas - A retrospective

I didn't really stay as on top of the blogging as I thought that I would during December. As I sat down at the computer this morning with a camera full of photos and a delicious JJ Beans coffee (thanks Vancouver crew, I love it) I was disappointed to discover that December 2010 was my most unproductive (in a blog sense at least) month in the almost three years since Lola! began. I'm not going to make some crazy promise that in 2011 things will be different, but I'll at least try to give you more material then I did in December.

We did manage to make it though almost all of our 25 days of Christmas tasks and we had a lot of fun along the way. December was a great month and truly flew by. I tried to capture a lot of the fun, but sometimes we were just so caught up in the moment that I didn't think to grab the camera. But, here are a few times that I did manage to take pictures of.
December 9 - Arts and crafts night. This years project was to make Popsicle stick ornaments for the tree. Lola really liked this project and she takes her colouring and gluing quite serious.

They turned out really nice and I am sure will appear on our Christmas trees for years to come.
December 10 - Edible treats for the birds. This year we made treats for the birds with Cheerios. It was a fun project to string the Cheerios on the twine and it kept Lola and I busy while Daddy has a much deserved sleep in.

As you can tell we had no snow in the middle of December and the temperatures were pretty decent. I made Lola wear her hat to make it seem a bit more wintry.
We also hung a seed and nut bell for the birds. Within minutes of returning into the house a number of squirrels were running around the back yard wearing Cheerios necklaces and a group of squirrels had managed to rip the seed and nut bell from the tree. So, while we didn't manage to feed one single bird; the squirrels in our neighbourhood ate quite well.

December 14 - Go to a Christmas party. Lola's day care threw a family Christmas party; with singing, dancing, dinner, and a visit from the big man himself.
Santa and Mrs. Claus came to Lola's day care and brought every kid a present. She wasn't sure about getting too close to Santa, but was very pleased to open the electric guitar that he brought her.
It was a really nice party and Lola was so proud that Santa came to her school.
December 15 - Christmas cookie decorating night. A task completed by Lola and Dad without any Mom supervision. It is hard to believe, based on the colours running down her chin, that not all the icing and treats were consumed and some were actually used to decorate the cookies.
They did turn out beautiful and were all dripping with treats and icing.

December 16 - Cake pops day. It was a full day of cake pops for Sarah and I. With the newly acquired Cake Pops book, Sarah and I felt better prepared to take on this mammoth task. We boldly decided that we could make three types of cake pops.
The reindeer were up first and they turned out super cute.
It is very precise work that requires patience and a steady hand; and when that doesn't work just add more chocolate.The snowmen and Christmas trees followed in short order and all turned out wonderfully. We are both ridiculously proud of our little cake, candy, chocolate creations.

After that Christmas was upon us and our Christmas adventures need their own posts.

To be continued...

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Isabella's Birthday Party

Isabella gets to share her birthday with the baby Jesus. And because it is hard to contend with Christmas, Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Sally decided to throw Isabella an early birthday party. And because they have to compete with Christmas and the fact that we will never again get to celebrate birthdays together (we are a still a little bitter about the upcoming move) they made sure that this was the best kids birthday party ever!
We went to Build a Bear and (wait for it) we built bears! I made a football doggy named 'puppy'. I wanted to put him in a football outfit because then he would be 'just like daddy'. Joseph and I made the exact same football doggy, though Joseph named his football puppy 'doggy'.
Here is a photo of the gang afterwards showing off our super amazing creations.
I found this little guitar that you could get for your bear, I pretty much fell in love with it instantly. I'm pretty good on the miniature stuffed guitar, you would be pretty surprised.
The birthday girl with her bear all packed up to go home.
After we made our stuffed animals -- and I did a little work on the computer -- we headed out for some dinner and some super super sugary cupcakes. It was a great birthday party, even if the ride home was a little bit rough (lots of snow and sugar highs crashing). Thanks for inviting us to your birthday party Isabella. I can't wait to help you celebrate again on the 25th!

Getting ready for Christmas

The process of getting all of our Christmas decorations out has taken a few days and Lola loved being able to help with all the preparations this year.
She was in charge of putting the wreath on the front door and acted as the director when it came time to decide where the reindeer should be placed.
After some discussion we were able to find the perfect place for him. Lola says good morning to him everyday when we head out to start our day.
This year Lola was quite pleased with the addition of her very own tree that lives in her room. It is full of ornaments that she take on and off as much as she wants.
She is really enjoying playing in her room in the light of the tree.
Our Christmas tree mission this year, was a ultimately a success, but it has some pretty rough beginnings. In the end we managed to find a wonderful tree and turn into happier Christmas tree hunters!

The finished product; I love our tree and I love the way that it makes the house smell. Our house is all ready for Santa to arrive.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

And the stockings were all hung...


Brunch with Dylan

On the weekend Dylan and his mom and dad met us for lunch. It had been a long time since we had seen each other. As you can tell by the photos it was a pretty happy and long overdue reunion.
If you are looking for a good breakfast spot, you should check out Prohibition. They have some pretty delicious breakfast meats!

It's like we are famous!

Appearing in other people's blogs makes me feel sort of special!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The 25 days of Christmas

Last year we participated in the 25 days of Christmas, where we did one thing every day leading up to the big holiday. It was such a big success in our household, so we decided to do it again this year. Here are our 25 days of Christmas for 2010.

1. Put up Christmas decorations
2. Put up Christmas lights
3. Decorate Lola's Christmas tree
4. Christmas tree hunting and decorating
5. Deliver Christmas decorations to Anonymous
6. Make paper chain garland for the tree
7. Serve sparkling cider with dinner
8. Colouring night - each year, colour in the same book and date it
9. Make our own Christmas tree decorations
10. Make and hang edible gifts for the birds
11. Get holiday hair cuts
12. Go to a Christmas concert
13. Eat Festive Specials for dinner
14. Drink hot chocolate by the light of the tree
15. Listen to Christmas carols
16. Decorate and eat Gingerbread cookies
17. Get dressed up in Christmas outfits and take a family photo with the tree
18. Bake Christmas cookies
19. Watch a Christmas movie on the fold out couch
20. Deliver cookies to the neighbours
21. Go for a walk and look at the lights
22. Wrap presents
23. Celebrate Christmas in Collingwood
24. Read 'Twas the night before Christmas
25. Christmas at home, love every minute of it! Call all of our family and tell them how much we love them. Especially Isabella!

I'll try to remember to take photos and post them as we go, but sometimes the season just goes by so quickly.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Christmas Parade Shirts

Beej and I always get matching shirts for the Santa Claus parade and the moms always try to get a nice picture of the two of us in our matching shirts.Beej was smiling because he was promised chocolate for cooperating. I was too busy watching the football game to smile.
But, I do love my shirt especially since it was made just for me. Thanks Katie!

Monday, November 22, 2010

It's almost here

I'm really starting to get excited. This past weekend was the Santa Claus parade, the official kick off to the Christmas season. The sun was shining, the wind was icy cold and we all stood outside decked in our finest of winter gear hoping to catch a glimpse of the big man himself.
Baby Grant came to join us this year. I'm not sure if he will be all that interested in coming out again next year.
There were lots of great floats and lots of bands -- which Lola loved; and lots of boozy hot chocolate -- which I loved. It was a great parade and the perfect way to usher in the 2010 Christmas season.

I have my 25 days of Christmas list almost complete and can't wait to get the decorations and lights out (we are one of those houses that has a rule where we have to wait until December 1st to pull out the Christmas stuff). While I am desperately waiting to get the Christmas stuff out, it does give me time to get things done, lists made, and stuff organized. Darcy and I haven't done Christmas cards in years, but then I found these.

Shutterfly recently released their holiday collection of cards and they are sweet, they are easy and I think that you can all expect to see one in your mailbox sometime shortly. I haven't finalized the actual design and really it would be giving it away if I posted the final product before putting them in the mail, but I imagine that they will look something like the one above. Don't worry you won't be disappointed! They have a whole bunch of other cool stuff, so I hope that you aren't upset when all your gifts for the next few years are pictures of the little lady on things like coffee mugs or calendars. Grandparents love this kind of stuff don't they?

Yeah Christmas!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Snow Pants

Mom says that it is time, the snow is coming!
In light of that and the fact that this weekend is the big Santa Claus parade, I got out my new/old snow pants.
I really like wearing them around the house.
I'm a really big fan of these blue ones since they used to belong to my buddy BJ. I'm so happy that he is sharing with me. Thanks BJ!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Tanta Ness Visits

Tanta Ness is back from her grand adventure in Thailand and came over for a visit to catch up.
It is nice to have her back home and since she came by I haven't stopped talking about how long Tanta Ness's hair is and how I want my hair in a side pony tail.
I even drew a pictures of her in the bath tub with a side pony. Thanks for the visit Tanta Ness and welcome home!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Movember - Update

Dad didn't feel that the last photo was a true representation of the status of his 'stache. So, here is a better photo! Donate if you can!

Movember

Movember - the month formally known as November - is the month that Dad, along with a whole lot of other men, grow a mustache in support of prostate cancer research.
This is his mid-month progress!

The Jonna 2010

A few weekends ago Mom shipped me off to Grandma's and hosted the 2010 Jonna Invitational Virtual Golf Tournament.
This years tournament had its best turn out yet and its first corporate sponsors (thanks to Velvet Rope Productions, Simply, and Lavo Inc.)

With all the courses in the world at our disposal, we decided to play the executive course at Cardinal. Yes, any where in the world and we chose Newmarket!
We had a number of new golfers to the tournament this year and what they lacked in skill they made up for in enthusiasm. It is great to see the Jonna family expanding to include more people.
The golf was great and the conditions were perfect (sunny with a slight breeze), and our course had its own dj and own personal bartender! These are perks that no other golf tournament can offer.
After golf wrapped up we headed back to the Duntgomery residence for the awards ceremony before heading out again for dinner and dancing.
Sarah was the Master of Ceremonies and ran a quick and efficient awards presentation.
Gemma won the award for 'Most Creative Golfer'.
Patti was the proud recipient of a Lavo Inc. laundry gift bag for being the 'Cleanest Golfer'.
Obviously Carolyn won the Velvet Rope Sponsored 'Darcy Montgomery Best Dressed Award'.
Megs won the 'Sweetest Golfer Award'.
K-dawg took home the Simply sponsored Closest to the Pin. Katie took home the Longest Drive award, but I think that the photographer missed that presentation!
The team of Candra and Melissa took home the award for the 'Most Honest Golfers'.
And Liisann and Sarah took home the coveted Jonna jackets. Ending Katie's two year strangle hold on the Jonna title. A lot more stuff happened and fun times were had by all. For more pictures from the night go here.

Thanks to all the participants!